College Experiences That Helped a Chief of Staff at Mesh Succeed
Caldwell, a Chief of Staff at Mesh with a mechanical engineering background, emphasizes two key takeaways from their undergraduate experience: the development of "a sense of how to...figure things out, solve things with whatever tools are available," and the crucial importance of teamwork experience from "Team projects," particularly for aspiring startup leaders.
Problem-solving, Teamwork, Technical Skills, Leadership, Project Management
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Caldwell Clarke
Chief of Staff
Mesh
University of Maryland
UCLA Anderson School of Management - MBA
Engineering - Mechanical
Gaming, Technology
Product / Service / Software Development and Management
None Applicable
Video Highlights
1. Develop strong technical problem-solving skills. A background in engineering, or a similar field, provides valuable tools and experience in tackling challenges creatively.
2. Gain experience working on team projects. Collaborative efforts are essential for success in leadership roles and startup environments.
3. The skills learned in college are transferable. Caldwell's career path demonstrates that even without a direct match between major and career, problem-solving and teamwork skills are highly valuable
Transcript
Q12: College ideas for success
What did you do in your undergrad that set you up for success in your career? I was a mechanical engineer and then didn't pursue engineering, so there wasn't an obvious match between the two.
However, two things from my undergrad were really useful. The engineering degree taught me to be a technical problem-solver with a specific set of tools, but more importantly, I gained practice in figuring things out and solving problems with whatever tools were available. That was incredibly useful.
The second thing was team projects. Those are super important experiences, especially if you want to go into leadership-ish positions in startups. It's very hard to accomplish something on your own, so understanding how to set up a team where everyone is aligned and ready to go is really important.
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